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Re: Fall/Winter hiking

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:30 pm
by John Dittli
I actually went up just short of Mono Pass (above Ruby Lake). From that trail is a good view into LLV. Looked like pretty solid snow from Chicken Foot lake on up. 9,500 seems low, maybe on north facing. More like 10-10,500.

JD

Re: Fall/Winter hiking

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 2:23 pm
by Skibum
I was on Whitney during the recent search. Snow and ice was starting to thin out. Descended the west side to our camp at Guitar lake with no problems. Have not had any real wx since. Friend hiked to Pear lake and back yesterday. Trail was clear. Cloudy and chilly right now, but no precip.

Skibum

Re: Fall/Winter hiking

Posted: Sat Nov 07, 2009 5:58 pm
by maverick
Thanks Skibum and JD for the backcountry update.

Re: Fall/Winter hiking

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:56 pm
by markorr
Just returned. Went from Sabrina Lake up to Echo Lake, patchy snow above 10,000 becoming more solid around 11,000. We also stopped by Little Lakes Valley. The trail has patchy snow to Chickenfoot, although easy to navigate. The drainage from Long Lake up Treasure Lakes was snowfilled. We made it up without snowshoes, although we punched through quite often. Great weather all weekend.

Re: Fall/Winter hiking

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 6:39 pm
by EpicSteve
This is my first post on HST. For the past couple of years, most of my backpacking has been in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, starting from Beasore Rd, between Bass Lake and Clover Meadow Ranger Station, in Sierra National Forest. The same held true for the hike I just did on November 7th & 8th...

Hiked from Jackass Meadow trailhead (7,050 ft) to Upper Jackass Lake (9,200 ft). Encountered a few large patches of snow with a really hard glaze at Middle Jackass Lake (8,910 ft). Almost impossible to kick steps in. I was not carrying an ice axe, crampons, or snowshoes. Trekking poles helped, but the snow conditions defintely influenced me to use alternate routes from the trail at times, even though the vast majority of the terrain was snow-free.

The weather forecast was for high of 40 and low of 26. I wasn't carrying a thermometer, but that seemed pretty accurate. There was about 10% - 20% snow coverage on the headwall above the lake, which is the east face of the Southeast Ridge of Madera Peak. Had I continued to Burro Lake or the summit of Madera Peak, I would probably have wanted an ice axe and possibly crampons. The weather was cold and clear, but practically windless. I had the lake all to myself, and the place is beautiful, so what more can a solo hiker ask for? :)

Re: Fall/Winter hiking

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 10:06 am
by maverick
Welcome Epic to HST. Sounds like a great trip.
" I had the lake all to myself, and the place is beautiful, so what more
can a solo hiker ask for?
You nothing, but is it possible we could ask for some photo's, please?

Re: Fall/Winter hiking

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 11:35 am
by EpicSteve
maverick wrote:Welcome Eric to HST. Sounds like a great trip.
" I had the lake all to myself, and the place is beautiful, so what more
can a solo hiker ask for?
You nothing, but is it possible we could ask for some photo's, please?
Thanks for the welcome, maverick! By the way, that's Epic, not Eric. (I'll post the story behind my nickname in a future thread. It's related to rock climbing and is actually kind of funny.)

I'll be happy to post some photos as soon as I transfer them from my camera to my PC and then figure out how to upload them here. Just haven't had time. Hopefully in a day or two...

Re: Fall/Winter hiking

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 2:04 pm
by maverick
Sorry about that Epic, it has been changed.
Looking forward to the pic's, and the story behind the name.

Re: Fall/Winter hiking

Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 6:18 pm
by EpicSteve
I haven't had time to figure out how to post photos on HST, so in the meantime, if you'd like to see some of my photos from the Jackass Lakes trip I described above, you can see them on Flickr:

Re: Fall/Winter hiking

Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 8:22 pm
by ERIC
EpicSteve wrote:I haven't had time to figure out how to post photos on HST, so in the meantime, if you'd like to see some of my photos from the Jackass Lakes trip I described above, you can see them on Flickr:
There is a thread in the photography forum that explains how. I'd post a direct link, but I'm on my phone right now.